The Frozen Wastes
by JamesK716
Summary: Corvo Attano pursues his prey, coming across the people of Dunwall in the process. One-Shot.


The Frozen Wastes

Corvo Attano walks slowly across the lower alley of the Distillery District, his cloak wrapped tightly. The piercing wind stings with the cold, tinging against his face. He pulls his cloak tighter, but it does little good. He can even feel the cold through his boots, all the way to his toes. Corvo presses on, his prey still on the loose.

The Lord Protector gazes at the bridge above him; he can see a couple of guards and hear the bustle of crowds in the fledging market. He looks back down and continues down his path, leaving his tracks in the snow behind him.

Corvo reaches the end of the alley. He summons some strength and leaps onto the large pipes which elevate and twist throughout the Distillery District. Crouching he follows it to the end, where it rises an immediate five feet in the air. Attano leaps, kicking off of the wall to barely reach the top of the pipe. For the briefest of moments he glances at the ground below. He's thirty feet away; a fall from here would certainly kill. The snow would flow with his blood.

The Lord Protector pulls himself up, his black cloak clamoring to the armor. A closed window is nearby, and Corvo peers through it. A family, two parents and two children, are eating. Bread and cheese, a simple meal. The father's plate is empty, not a crumb in sight. A baby's cry pierces Corvo's concentration as he realizes this family is more than just a family of four. Reaching into his satchel Corvo pulls out a small stack of coins leaving them on the window seal, and announcing its' presence with a simple knock.

He's gone before they turn to look.

Corvo pulls himself up onto the rooftop; snow falls into his cloak as he climbs, but the Lord Protector ignores it. Once atop he crouches low, maintaining balance as he shakes off snow. He begins carefully walking across the rooftop, his eye out for darkly clothed figures.

Attano does not know who the victim is; all the Lord Protector knows is that they will die, tonight. He has hunted them to this District, and refuses to let them continue. Corvo thought to check the harbor, but knows it holds empty hope; the waters are frozen over, into a total waste.

He looks ahead and can see a few men lying under a small self-made covering. He sees a fire, noting that the family from before doesn't. Corvo reaches the ledge, and gazes over. There is a pathway linking the two buildings, but it'll let the Lord Protector across. Corvo leaps and slides, the icy pathway allowing him to make it all the way across. Just before he hits the wall, the hero leaps, latching onto a snowy vent, and pulling himself up. He nearly slips again, but catches a foothold.

Corvo runs up the wall onto the roof, close to the covering. He listens carefully to the conversations below.

"I got work tomorrow in the Distillery." A heavy voice grunts.

"Lucky boy." A light feminine voice retorts.

"Hey at least it means we can get some food tomorrow." The first voice answered.

"We always have a way to get food." A third raven like voice replied.

"We can't keep taking from the Milliohms." The heavy voice, Corvo mentally checks off as Heavy, replies. "They're starving just as much as us."

"It's us or them." The Raven-voice states. "You're on my side, aren't you Keisha?"

"…Yeah" Keisha replies after a moment.

"I refuse to be a part of that anymore." Heavy announces.

"You already are." Raven answers. "Dinner was the dog they'd been trying to keep."

Corvo feels rage power through his blood. These people are evil, he believes.

Before Heavy or Keisha can answer, Attano leaps onto the covering, trapping them in darkness.

"What the f-" Raven was interrupted as Corvo kicks him harshly in the stomach, ripping the cloth covering and sending him sliding down the roof. The Lord Protector turns around, ducking as Keisha swings a sword at him. He steps forward, grabbing her wrist and twisting it. He kicks her in the stomach, launching her into a window. The glass pierces her skin and breaks her neck. Corvo doubts that she lives.

"I don't want any trouble." Heavy says, he holds up his hands.

The hero gets a good look and sees that Heavy is well and truly, heavy. Easily 6'6 and bulkier than any guard Corvo has ever seen, the man is a true behemoth.

"I didn't know the meat came from the Milliohms. I… I.. didn't want to hurt them. I swear." Heavy pleads.

Corvo steps back, turning to leave when he hears the sickeningly familiar sound of metal piercing through flesh. He turns back towards Heavy, seeing Raven behind him, the point of a blade sticking out. Corvo realizes immediately that Raven landed on a vent. Heavy falls to the snow, his blood flowing across the frozen rooftop.

The Lord Protector walks towards Raven, fearless. The thief swings wide, and Corvo realizes his opponent is a hopeless amateur. He reaches up, redirecting Raven's strike to his own shoulder. Corvo twists the blade and pushes with all his might, launching Raven far off the edge and crashing into the ground. He screams until he hits the ground with an audible crack.

Corvo analyzes Heavy's body, but sees that it's pointless. The behemoth is already dead. Attano lowers the lids of Heavy's eyes and leaves, making his way back to the roofs of the District.

The prey is near; Attano can feel it in his blood. Glancing ahead he sees the old watchtower the guards used to use. He smiles as he sees the silhouette of the prey. Corvo races ahead, his cloak flying through the wind. Attano falls to a lower rooftop, and then down to a guard post before finally reaching, and sliding across the ground. The silhouette sees Corvo, and races away. Attano smiles.

The cold bites and stings at Corvo as he races across the bridge towards the watchtower. A large boom rings out and he feels a punch of pain. He's been shot. It's not pressing though, the Lord Protector's armor accounts for the majority of the damage. Still, Corvo focuses, refusing to be caught off guard again.

Corvo races up a pillar, his momentum and strength carrying him just high enough to reach the ledge. He pulls himself up, jumps and grabs a vine, swinging around to the fallen metal spire jutting out from the watchtower. His prey is trapped.

The prey pulls out their sword and pistol, aiming both toward Corvo. They race towards each other, interlocking in a duel. The exchange will leave Corvo scarred. He swings towards the prey's chest, but is blocked, his opponent pushes him back. The prey responds wildly, so ferocious that Corvo barely defends himself. The prey smiles, leaping away. It is only then that Corvo realizes that his satchel has been removed. The prey tosses the satchel over the ledge, leaving Corvo with just his short sword.

The prey turns and races down the slick metal spire, tossing the satchel towards the frozen wastes below. The prey leaps off the ledge firing the pistol at the satchel, striking the grenades and blowing a large hole in the ice. The prey submerges briefly, before climbing out and racing across the frozen wastes.

Corvo knows that the target will die out there, but he believes he must do it himself. The Lord Protector leaps over the metal spire into the waterhole.

Immediately the cold invades him. He nearly blacks out from the temperature. Amazingly he manages to pull himself up and out of the ice, and into the frozen wastes. Attano's clothes stick closer as he grips his sword tightly. He realizes he's bleeding, but chooses to ignore it. The prey must die. Attano catches a glimpse of the cloak and races after the target.

The cold stings badly with the wind. Frost covers his eyes, and ice has already formed across his abdomen. Corvo sprints, hoping to warm himself by expending more energy. It won't work. The Lord Protector begins to catch up to his prey.

Corvo pulls out his sword and wildly attacks, swinging for the death strike. The prey reacts by dodging or blocking each of the strikes. Corvo slides across the deadly ice, slicing out the back of the prey's left knee.

They let out a cry of pain. Corvo ignores it bringing down his short sword at their left arm. The prey swings up to dodge it, but the ice has frozen over and their blade shatters. A shard of the blade pierces his eye. The blood freezes almost instantly.

Corvo brings his blade down again, with as much strength as he can muster in the icy environment. The blade crashes into the prey's shoulder, digging about halfway through before shattering.

They let out another scream.

Corvo brings what remains of his blade to their neck.

"You deserve this." He slices out the jugular.

Her blood flows across the frozen wastes.


End file.
